No one writes a “popcorn thriller” quite like J.T. Ellison. I’ve come to rely on J.T. to deliver irresistible, impossible-to-put-down suspense novels that can sweep me away in their gripping tales—and that’s exactly the kind of thriller that J.T. Ellison has given us with her brand-new release HER DARK LIES. This immersive, Gothic-tinged suspense story gives readers an exclusive invitation to the wedding of the year: the marriage between up-and-coming artist Claire Hunter and Jack Compton, one of the heirs to the vast Compton family fortune. Readers follow Claire and Jack as they travel to Italy for what’s sure to be a picture-perfect wedding… but, in true J.T. Ellison form, things soon take a dark and shocking turn (and then a few more dark, shocking turns after that). I’m so thrilled to be able to share with CBTB readers a Q&A with author J.T. Ellison, in which we explore everything from the inspiration behind HER DARK LIES to the book’s Gothic influences to a secret that J.T. has to share with us about the book’s setting! Huge thanks to J.T. Ellison for stopping by CBTB to share this glimpse into her newest release with us! Read on for a (spoiler-free!) discussion of J.T. Ellison’s HER DARK LIES.
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Book Review: HER DARK LIES by J.T. Ellison
If there’s one author I can always count on to deliver a binge-worthy “popcorn read,” it’s J.T. Ellison. The author of some of my personal favorite suspense novels including Good Girls Lie and Lie to Me returns today with her latest outing: HER DARK LIES, a darkly delicious concoction made of equal parts family drama, Gothic elements, and a wanderlust-worthy sense of place. In HER DARK LIES, readers meet Claire and Jack: a golden couple who are preparing for their wedding in the luxurious villa owned by Jack’s fabulously wealthy family. This villa, which sits perched atop a breathtaking island off the coast of Italy, is the perfect venue for what is sure to be the wedding of the year. But as Claire and Jack settle in for their big day, a series of inexplicable and increasingly sinister events begin to take place. And when a storm cuts off power to the island, Claire and Jack quickly realize these events aren’t just inconveniences—they’re a warning sign of greater dangers to come. Laced with elements of Gothic suspense and brimming with all the “popcorn thriller” entertainment value that I’ve come to expect in J.T. Ellison’s novels, HER DARK LIES is a deliciously readable and delightfully sinister suspense read. Pour yourself a glass of something sparkling and travel to Isle Isola for the wedding of the year—but watch your back, because not everyone is getting out of this wedding alive.
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Book Review: THE ESCAPE ROOM by Megan Goldin
One of my personal goals for 2021 is to finally make more time to read slightly older books that I missed when they were first published. This past week, I made a dent in my list of books that fall under this category by devouring Megan Goldin’s thrilling debut novel THE ESCAPE ROOM, which was first published in hardcover in 2019. In this engaging, page-turning suspense novel, Goldin puts a clever spin on the concept of a “locked room mystery”—here, locking a group of ruthless Wall Street hot shots in an escape room where the game isn’t just complicated, it’s deadly. When four rising stars in an elite investment banking firm are invited by their company’s HR department to participate in an escape room challenge, they find it odd, sure, but they are quick to comply. Anything to climb the corporate ladder. But the group quickly discovers that this is no ordinary escape room, and that the stakes in this game are higher than any of them could have imagined. Page-turning pacing and loads of entertainment value make THE ESCAPE ROOM a dark and sinister delight to read; a cast of wholly unlikeable yet vividly crafted characters brings this story to life, and keeps readers on their toes, unsure of who (if anyone) they can trust. Megan Goldin’s debut thriller delivers clever entertainment and devious plotting, the kind of book that you can read in in one or two sittings.
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Book Review: SMOKE SCREEN by Thomas Enger and Jørn Lier Horst
The writing partnership between Thomas Enger and Jørn Lier Horst is the stuff that Nordic Noir readers’ dreams are made of. Enger and Horst, both acclaimed crime writers in their own right, are now dominating Norwegian bestseller charts with their gripping thriller series featuring police officer Alexander Blix and journalist Emma Ramm. This pacey, page-turning Nordic crime series blew me away with its first installment, DEATH DESERVED, which found a serial killer at work in Oslo, Norway, committing a series of very public murders. This month, Blix and Ramm are back with the second installment in this inspired crime series. SMOKE SCREEN finds our two protagonists on the heels of a very different kind of villain: a bomber who disrupts the annual New Year’s Eve fireworks display with his own deadly spectacle. Blix and Ramm find themselves independently drawn into the investigation, and it isn’t long before they each discover the shadowy connection between this bombing and a decade-old missing persons case. How do these events fit together? And what is the motivation behind this bomber’s horrific acts? SMOKE SCREEN delivers another intricate, page-turning thriller from two of Norway’s most acclaimed crime writing talents. Long may the partnership between Thomas Enger and Jørn Lier Horst continue—the Blix and Ramm series is a fresh, engaging addition to any Scandinavian crime fiction reader’s library, and a series I hope to be reading for years to come.
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CBTB’s Recommended Locked Room Mysteries
It’s one of crime fiction’s oldest tropes, and one of its most perennially-appealing, too: a group of individuals find themselves locked in a hotel (or on an island, or in a house… you get the idea!), a murderer in their midst. Who among them is the killer? The locked room mystery is an unfailingly entertaining crime fiction subgenre. Clever plots, impossible solutions, red herrings a plenty—there is so much to love about books that fall into this category, and they’ve been a longtime favorite for me ever since I began reading Agatha Christie novels back in the day! With the recent popularity of locked room-style mysteries including THE GUEST LIST by Lucy Foley and THE SANATORIUM by Sarah Pearse, I’ve been receiving more requests than ever for a blog post dedicated to my personal favorite locked room mystery recommendations. Well, the day is finally here! I’m thrilled to share my list of Recommended Locked Room Mysteries with CBTB readers today. From Nordic mysteries to modern-day twists on the genre to classics and more, I hope that every reader will find a little something to catch their eye in today’s blog post.
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